I have spent 20 years working in nonprofit think tanks, the last 13 as a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas. I also ran the Washington, D.C.-based Council for Affordable Health Insurance for nearly nine years. While I cover a range of political, economic and policy areas, I specialize in health policy. Prior to joining the think tanks, I taught philosophy. I received all three of my degrees—BBA in economics, masters in divinity and Ph.D. in humanities—from Texas universities. I was an ethicist for a medical school's panel reviewing human experimentation. I'm a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Texas Advisory Committee. For several years I was a political analyst for the USA Radio Network, and I hold a 6th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and still teach.

Obamacare's Rollout Could Be A Big Problem For Obama And Democrats In 2014

My own sense is the public feels vulnerable right now; ObamaCare will make that worse.

It could undermine Democrats’ faith in efficient big government. Everything Obama does is based on his faith in big government’s ability to do things right. True, he has precious little evidence for his faith, which is why it’s “faith” and not fact.

While Obama has made it clear he would prefer a single-payer health care system—any big-government believer would—ObamaCare is close enough. But if it crashes, it will undermine his and Democrats’ claims. They will, of course, blame others for the failure—that has been the pattern for the last five years—but the public might not buy it, and likely wouldn’t because only Republicans have been raising the red flags trying to get the law repealed or delayed. But that might be changing.

There are reports that some Democrats—e.g., Sens. Joe Manchin (WV), Mark Begich (AK), Mark Pryor (AR) and Mary Landrieu (LA)—may be having second thoughts. They should.

Republicans are now pushing for a one-year delay in the law, which isn’t unreasonable given the president has unilaterally postponed several parts for a year, even though he has no legal authority to do so.

Perhaps one of those Democrats can lead the way by doing what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did during the last budget standoff when he called Vice President Joe Biden and asked if there wasn’t someone there who could make a deal.

Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., is a resident scholar at the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow at http://twitter.com/MerrillMatthews

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Not a constructive comment. See: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/25/us/politics/nyt-poll-obama.html?ref=politics

In New Mexico, our rates are expected to soar. See: http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2013/what-will-obamacare-cost-you-map.html

This will not be good for anyone; especially the Senate or the presidency. But it will hurt many people. Do you have an answer as to why the Federal Government (Dems and Rebs) have prevented health insurance companies from trading freely across state lines? Wouldn’t some competition help the situation?

No. It will not be good for Republicans and Tea partiers. The president can’t run again and his legacy will be intact when he leaves in 2016. Republicans on the other hand need to get the Tea party out of politics before they ruin the whole country which is the only reason they are there to begin with.

In California, my Anthem Blue Cross plan is expected to go up from $270 to $470 per month with a $5,000 deductible. Also worrying is the note that “due to changes from the ACA, your previous provider or hospital may not be eligible for your plan. So in both cases, Obama lied. No, ACA won’t make it cheaper for me. No, if I have a doctor I may not be able to keepmy doctor.

You are mistaken, and are parroting a talking point.. There is no federal law prohibiting insurance sales across state lines. Most major insurance companies already operate in every state. What prevents the kind of “competition” that you suggest is that each state has its own regulations concerning insurance. The “Insurance sales across state lines” argument is actually a demand that one or two things occur. Either the federal government take over the insurance industry, and pass federal health care insurance regulations that apply in every state, whether a particular state wants it or not (see Obamacare), or the federal government tell the states that they cannot regulate insurance within their borders, and must allow companies to sell “insurance” that originates from unregulated or poorly regulated states. Which of those do you want?